Nottingham Forest made their way around the City Ground pitch as a collective for a lap of appreciation after the final whistle had blown on their 2024/25 season.
Unity and a strong team spirit had been at the heart of a thoroughly memorable campaign for the Reds. Qualifying for Europe and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup was a group effort.
Goalkeeper Matz Sels and defender Nikola Milenkovic had emerged from the tunnel separately to collect personal awards - the Premier League’s Golden Glove for the former and Forest’s Player of the Season trophy for the latter. But both would be the first to say they could not have shone without the help of their teammates.
"It's a big achievement so I'm really happy but not only for me but for the team,” Sels said afterwards."This kind of achievement is always from the team. It's the same if a striker scores a lot of goals."
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was asked who his choice for player of the season would be. “I would give it to all of them,” he replied. “For me, there are many candidates. For me, it is not player of the season, it is team of the season and squad of the season.”
Indeed, a case could be made for a fair few members of the Reds squad to claim the individual accolade. In years gone by, the standout candidates have been obvious. This time, half of the regular starting XI could quite easily have landed that honour and nobody would have had any complaints.
Alan Shearer's decision not to name a single Forest player in his Premier League team of the season was met with much surprise and no shortage of incredulity. Not one representative from the club which left pundits eating their words for most of the campaign? Bizarre.
The 2024/25 term has seen some incredible contributions from those wearing the Garibaldi. Below, NottinghamshireLive picks out our top five.
5. Anthony Elanga
By his own admission, the winger was below par early on in the campaign. Whether speculation about his future amid interest from Newcastle United last summer affected him, only he will now.
“I probably didn’t start the quickest,” Elanga has admitted. It is a statement with a touch of irony about it given he is one of the fastest players in the Premier League.
Heading into the final round of fixtures, according to Sky Sports’ stats, the Sweden international had six entries among the top 18 sprints of the season. No other player had multiple inclusions.
Elanga is not just fast, he has also worked on his end product. His whipped ball in for Milenkovic in the 2-1 win over West Ham United took him to 11 Premier League assists for the campaign. It equalled a club record set by Bryan Roy in 1994/95.
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4. Neco Williams
Perhaps somewhat of a late entry into the top five. A few months ago, the Welshman might have been pipped by a few of his teammates into this list.
He had a bit of a wobble with a couple of errors late on in the season, but otherwise had been Mr Consistent for so long. Among Forest’s most improved players, for sure.
Williams found himself out of the XI at one point as Aston Villa loanee Alex Moreno got the nod ahead of him at left-back. But once he was back in the team, there was no shifting him.
Ola Aina, a regular on the opposite flank, could also have made this list. Both full-backs have been superb, and their versatility of being able to operate on either side has been hugely beneficial.
3. Nikola Milenkovic
“Nikola did great and deserves credit,” Nuno said of the centre-back being awarded the club’s Player of the Season honour. “Since he arrived, he had a big impact, in terms of the team - not only the game but also his presence and his leadership.”
Milenkovic has transformed the Reds defensively. He has been a difference-maker at the back. Solidity has been the foundation upon which Nuno has developed this team, and the addition of Milenkovic proved to be key to that. The Serbia international has helped central defensive partner Murillo develop further, too.
It is not just at the back where Milenkovic has made an impact. He ended the season with five goals to his name - a very impressive contribution from a defender. That the club snapped him up for a measly £12 million from Fiorentina is quite astounding. Not only was he among the Reds’ best players in 2024/25, he was also one of the best Premier League signings across the course of the campaign.
Pundit Gary Neville hailed him as such when reflecting on the season for Sky Sports. He said: “Unbelievable signing. The one thing I would say about him is that Forest suits him down to the ground. He is playing in a team that is quite compact and it suits him.”
2. Chris Wood
Time after time, the chant “Chris Wood again ole ole” was belted out with gusto by the Forest faithful. The front man had the season of his life.
The goals dried up a bit in the final stretch but Wood had been playing out of his skin before that. A hip injury sustained on international duty for New Zealand sidelined him for a bit and he struggled to regain the kind of form he had shown previously.
The Reds would not have got to where they did without him, though. And it was still a terrific year for the veteran striker. His 20-goal tally was his best ever in the Premier League.
Nuno has been at pains to point out many times that the 33-year-old offers more than just goals. His all-round contribution and work ethic in games can sometimes go under the radar but does not go unnoticed by the Forest head coach.
1. Matz Sels
Sels walked out of the tunnel to a huge standing ovation after the final game of the season as he collected his Golden Glove award. He would no doubt loved to have signed off for the summer with another clean-sheet, but the 13 shut-outs he did manage was tied with Arsenal’s David Raya for most in the division.
“Matz Sels in the middle of our goal” has been a regular chant at the City Ground and on away days. The Belgian has come to his team’s rescue on countless occasions and has made some outstanding saves.
Asked to name their choice for player of the season for a video recorded by the club in the final weeks of the campaign, many members of the Forest squad plumped for Sels. Understandably so. They know how big a part he played in securing European football and making it to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Nuno knows it, too. “With all my respects for all of the other goalies, I think Matz did great for us,” he recently said. “The amount of key moments he had to keep us in games and save us. Huge.”
It is hard to disagree with Nuno’s assessment. Sels was the best-performing goalkeeper in the Premier League in 2024/25. He played out of his skin for the entire campaign.
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